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Central Georgia restaurant owners fear closing due to omicron variant

Local restaurants have struggled throughout the pandemic, and a business already working on thin margins can find chaos when even a little fever strikes

MACON, Ga. — Restaurants operate on thin margins, and Ben Hampton just saw that line get a little smaller for him and his Satterfield's crew.

"I had a fever of a 101.7 the last couple of days," he said.

Hampton can't help out in the kitchen with running a fever.  So far, he's tested negative for COVID-19, but the temperature spike gave the business owner a scare. 

"Immediately, immediately, COVID -- it doesn't matter if I have a headache or nausea because everything is a symptom, so you're mind goes to, 'Oh, my God, do I have COVID? Am I going to spread this to my employees? Am I going to have to shut my business down?" he said.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, Satterfield's stayed open, serving up fries and putting the sauce on their famous barbecue brisket.

Ben cannot say enough about his staff and what a great job they've done, but if you spend any time in the kitchen, you can see they're stressed because they've got the day-to-day and big productions, too, and now with the threat of omicron, when you have less than 12 employees, that can be pretty scary.

"We really got to get it in November or December where we make our money to get us through that cold snap," Ben calculated, "So if we had to close down, who knows if we would even make it till March."

Pitmaster Antwan Flemming says the crew will do whatever it takes to not shut down.

"12 hours some days, more than that. Sometimes, 14 or 15, whatever comes," he said rattling off how long he works on shifts.

Flemming knows those long hours may not let up anytime soon.

They are down a third of their normal staffing.

"You schedule 15 interviews and three or four show up, and you say, 'Hey, start on Tuesday at 8 a.m.,' and no one shows up, and that's happened three or four rounds of hiring," Hampton said with frustration.

It's a situation that comes with anxiety, long days, and an uncertainty about the future, but Hampton says if everyone sticks by the basics, he hopes it will all workout in the end.

"Keep washing your hands and not touching your eyes and your mouth," he said.

Hampton did test negative for COVID, and he says their motto through the whole pandemic is, "Adapt to the situation and overcome."

Michael Hokanson with the North Central Health District says getting vaccinated is your best defense, and you can always go to your county's health department to get that done.

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